Ski champ Lindsey Vonn injures knee in race crash

By CNN Staff

Updated 1623 GMT (0023 HKT) February 7, 2013

Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn suffered from a "complex knee injury" and was airlifted to a hospital after a crash during the super-G at the Alpine Ski World Championships in Austria on Tuesday. She will be out for the remainder of the season. Vonn, 28, won the downhill gold in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and is a four-time overall Alpine Ski World Cup champion. Here's a look at her rise to a household name for winter sports fans.

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Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn is lifted by a helicopter during the women's super-G event during the Alpine FIS Ski World Championships on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, in Schladming, Austria.

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn cruises down the mountain during the slalom event in the women's super combined at the FIS alpine skiing world cup on March 9, 2008, in Crans-Montana.

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Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn competes in the women's slalom first run on March 13, 2009, at the Ski World Cup finals in Are, Spain.

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Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn celebrates with her gold medal during the medal ceremony for the alpine skiing ladies downhill in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on February 17, 2010 in Whistler, Canada.

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Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn accepts the award for Best Female Athlete onstage at The 2011 ESPY Awards on July 13, 2011, in Los Angeles.

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Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn takes first place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup for women's giant slalom on October 22, 2011, in Soelden, Austria.

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – Vonn sprays powder during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's downhill on January 19, 2013, in Cortina D'ampezzo, Italy. She took first place.

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Photos: Ski champion Lindsey Vonn 22 photos

Ski champion Lindsey Vonn – From left, Tina Maze of Slovenia who came in second, Vonn who took first, and Anna Fenninger of Austria who took third celebrate after the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup for women's giant slalom on January 26, 2013, in Maribor, Slovenia.

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Story highlights

Lindsey Vonn suffered right knee ligament damage and a fracture

Four-time Alpine World Cup champion released from hospital

Snow prevented her from practicing on the race course Monday

Vonn won the downhill gold in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver

Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn suffered a "complex knee injury" when she crashed during the opening day super-G at the Alpine Ski World Championships in Austria on Tuesday, doctors said.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association said the four-time Alpine World Cup champion was airlifted from the race course in Schladming, Austria, to a hospital. She was evaluated and released, according to the U.S. Ski Team.

Vonn, 28, does not need immediate surgery on the "complex torn ligament" in her right knee, said Dr. Christian Kaulfersch, who is treating her at the Schladming Hospital.

U.S. team officials are considering whether she should fly back to the United States or remain in Europe for treatment, he said.

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Lindsey Vonn airlifted after crash

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Poster girl – Lindsey Vonn is a marketeer's dream, with her skiing prowess and profile taking the sport to new corners of North America.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Skiing starlet – Vonn burst on to the scene as a 16-year-old and represented the U.S. team on home soil at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 as a 17-year-old.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Big heart – Skiing is a treacherous sport, demonstrated by this fall Vonn had at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin. She was airlifted to hospital but returned two days later to compete and finished eighth. Her grit earned her the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Sporting spouse – Vonn married fellow U.S. skier Thomas Vonn in 2007. Vonn also became her coach. The pair split in November 2011.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

First of four – Vonn secured her first World Cup title in 2008. She set a new record for the most World Cup downhill victories in a season with 10. Vonn would go on to win it again two years in a row and now has four to her name.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Under the thumb – Another serious injury, this time to her thumb, ruled Vonn out of the World Ski Championships in Val d'Isere back in February 2009.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Gold plated – Vonn's only Olympic gold medal to date came in the downhill competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. "Seeing my name and the number one next to it was the best feeling I've had in my life," she told reporters.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Lake Lindsey – Lake Louise is Vonn's playground. She has dominated there in recent years, winning all three downhill events in December 2012, like she did the year before. Her request to race against the men there this year was rejected.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

Best buddies – Vonn missed out on a fourth successive World Cup title to her good friend Maria Riesch by three points in 2011.

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Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest10 photos

In conversation – Vonn took time out of her preparations for an Alpine World Cup event in Val d'Isere to catch up with CNN's Alpine Edge show.

"I've been trying to be patient and stay calm, but it's pretty tough with the way the weather has been," Vonn wrote. "It snowed a lot Sunday night, there was no training possible Monday on the race hill, then it rained most of Monday afternoon and evening."

The heavy snow meant Monday's free skiing session, in which she could learn about the race course's terrain and conditions, was canceled, she wrote.

"None of our staff has been on the hill," she wrote. "We don't know what shape the hill is in. We don't know anything about it."

Vonn was very familiar with the hill since it is where the World Cup finals were held last year, she wrote, "but it always feels a little awkward when you don't get a chance to free ski the hill before you race. It's tricky to know the terrain when all you have to go on is course inspection the morning of the race."

Vonn, who won the downhill gold in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, is just three wins behind Annemarie Moser-Proll's record of 62 World Cup wins. She was coming back from an intestinal illness that hospitalized her in November.

World Cup leader Tina Maze won gold in Tuesday's super-G ahead of Lara Gut of Switzerland and third-placed American Julia Mancuso.

The Slovenian continued her dominance this season as another big rival, two-time Olympic champion Maria Hofl-Riesch of Germany, also crashed out of the race.

"This is very important for me, it is my first speed medal," Maze said on the FIS website.

"I came here as one of the top favorites and proved my good shape. I knew it would be a long day today and was ready for it, even after all the postponements. Slovenia is such a small country and I am very happy and proud I can take this gold medal back with me."

Mancuso won the fifth world championship medal of her career, and her third in the super-G discipline -- one of two "speed events" along with the downhill, compared to the "technical" slalom and giant slalom races.

"I think that might've been one of the most difficult races I've ever been in. It was a really long course. I didn't know I'd be so tired at the end of the run," the 28-year-old said.